The dangers of mines still threaten the lives of civilians..Awareness teams are a parallel line to clearing operations in the coastal districts

English - Monday 18 October 2021 الساعة 04:42 pm
Mocha, NewsYemen, private:

On both sides of the line linking the districts of Mocha and Al-Wazi’ah, metal panels are erected warning of the danger of mines planted by the Houthi militia in large areas of the western coastal districts.

With the rising fears of new casualties, the national program to deal with mines is making great efforts to reduce this, as it works in two parallel lines: demining, and intensifying awareness programs about their dangers among residents of coastal districts who are ignorant of the manufactured forms that they appear.

In view of the fall of about 1,200 victims of Houthi mines in the areas of the West Coast, where children constitute about 40 percent of them, the program focuses on reducing this by educating school students, as children have a great curiosity to know what the shiny metal objects contain.

 Wissam Basem Al-Areeqi, the leader of one of the two teams working in the field of mine awareness in the Al-Wazeeya district of Newsymen, says that children have a wide curiosity in knowing strange things, and they make up a large proportion of the number of injured, so we try to reduce the number of victims in their ranks by warning them of  its risks through the awareness we do.

Al-Areeqi gives an example of a child when he took an unexploded mortar shell, but it fell from his hand while returning home, which exploded and caused him to amputate his foot, seriously injuring him.

 At Al-Farouq and Al-Thawra schools in Al-Wazi'ah, awareness lecturers stand in front of the crowds of male and female students to explain the shapes of the explosive objects and the dangers they pose.

In order to convey the information in its correct form, the awareness teams tell several stories, including the story of Ahmed and Salma, two brothers who were on their way to school and saw a shiny metal object.


 Despite the warnings given by Salma, according to her mother's advice, her brother insisted on holding that object to see what was inside, and its explosion led to the amputation of their limbs and the loss of their eyes.


 The story excites children, and they race by raising their hands to answer the questions that come to them, about how to deal with mines and explosive shells if they find them.


realistic solitaire


 Among the students who were listening to the warnings of the awareness teams, the child Zakaria Muhammad Al-Khibti, about twelve years old, was sitting on a chair with crutches next to him, to help him walk.

Zakaria, who lost his right foot, was injured in a landmine explosion while he was grazing sheep about three years ago, but the scars of the tragic accident still bear witness to its extreme tragedy.


dangerous places


 Nasser Seif, a member of the Liaison for the Second Team for Mine Risk Education in the Al-Waziyah District of Newsemen, talks about several places that still pose a danger to civilians.


 Nasser identifies those places along the front line that existed between the army forces and the Houthi militia, from al-Qarf in al-Zarifa to al-Ahyuq area in the district.


 Nasser believes that the areas of Jabal al-Shabaka, al-Wujan, al-Majar and al-Ghoul, and Sabr in al-Zarifa are still dangerous areas for citizens and it is forbidden to cross them, although there are few civilians who risk entering them, despite the omens they carry.


The second team for Mine Awareness is headed by a former engineer in the field of demining. He was also injured by a Houthi mine explosion, while he was clearing a mountainous area in the district.


 Despite the pain that did not leave him, Rajeh Ahmed continues to educate the audience of different age groups, providing a living example of the dangers of mines that he has been exposed to, and not underestimating their dangers.



 While the awareness programs supervised by the Brigadier General of Engineer Commander Haitham Atef, director of the Executive Center for Mine Action, remain of paramount importance due to the civilians’ ignorance of their dangers and the forms they appear after the Houthi militia made camouflaged patterns, it is important to continue to do so, which leads to the sparing of civilians.  The scourge of explosive objects and their endless tragedies.